Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile has been charged with treason, his lawyer said amid heightened political tensions.
Mundubile was arrested on Thursday after a deadly raid by authorities, prompting him to hide in a United Nations building in Lusaka.
He had disputed the results of Zambia’s recent presidential election, which brought incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema a second term.
Authorities accused Mundubile’s party, the National Revolutionary People’s Unity Party, of planning an armed insurgency, an allegation the group denied.
On Saturday night his lawyer, Milner Katolo, announced that the opposition leader was facing a treason charge, and cited that seventeen others, including running mate Makebi Zulu, were likewise charged.
In the August election, Mundubile gained 38 percent of the vote, while Hichilema secured 60 percent.
After a police raid the day after the poll killed a former cabinet minister and arrested several politicians, Mundubile and Zulu took refuge at the UN, only to be detained when presidential pressure was applied to hand them over.
The opposition’s legal challenge to the election outcome was thwarted when courts were sealed on Monday, the final day allowed for filing a case.
Hichilema is slated to be sworn in for a second term on 1 September. Regional and international observers described the election day as largely peaceful, yet Zambia’s Human Rights Commission calls for accountability over missing persons following the post‑election security operations.
